A Moment
by deathbybunny
Summary: Marceline had an eternity to spend without really knowing what it meant. Then she met the one person whom she wanted to spend more than just a moment with. MarcelinexPrincessBubblegum.


**AN:** Alright! I'm announcing my comeback with an epic one shot that I hadn't planned on making so epic. Originally, I had in mind a happy little story but then the idea went from sunshine and rainbows to this massive thing.

Now, let me warn you, this thing is long. Like I mentioned above, I had originally planned this to be a sweet little Bubbline one-shot but then my ideas ran in a different direction. Thirty pages later this is what I ended up with. It turned into a history like story for Marceline. Her past has only been revealed in little snippets and we still don't know a lot about her so I'm writing her past with what little we do know and I added my own spin on things to make things work the way I wanted. This fic can be split into three parts: the first is her early childhood to late teen years, the second when she met Princess Bubblegum and the last….well its best that you read the third part for yourself. I don't want to spoil anything here.

Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but the computer I'm typing this on.

A Moment

Marceline hadn't always known she'd live forever.

It wasn't something that ever crossed her mind. There was no reason for her to think that. What she did know was that she wasn't normal. Not counting for the fact that she had an abnormal skin condition, she could _feel_ she was different. She was stronger, faster, and just plain better than those other beings she was told to stay away from. Watching those mortals, as her father called them, grow up and die made her realize that yes she was different, but just how much more she'd only come to find as time passed.

Marceline came to notice that something was off about her parent's relationship. Having all the time in the world to observe everything else around her, it didn't take long for her to see that the way mortal parents and her parents behaved was far different. True her mother was around, but it was rare that she'd act like a mother to Marceline. The times that she'd actually be motherly towards her were rare but when they did happen, the moments became that much more precious. For the better part of what she deemed her "childhood" it was always her father playing the role of parent in her life. The great Lord of Evil, Hunson Abadeer, would always be the one doing the parent like duties.

Then her mother came back one day and she was different. She couldn't put her finger on it but when she'd returned, her father had been furious. It was the first time she'd seen him shift away from his more human like form. It hadn't scared her though. She was never scared of her father. The incident though did cause an even bigger rift between them and her mother. It was hard not to notice her absence when she'd no longer be around during the day. It was only at night that she'd ever catch a glimpse of her around the house. Eventually, Marceline pushed this incident aside and continued on with life. She was still only a child after all and she had no interest in the dynamics of adult things. Life went on as normal as could be for a demon child and her odd parents.

Then the end came in a bright explosion of heat and furry.

It only lasted a few minutes, but the effects of the Mushroom Wars were felt for centuries to come. Marceline had watched it all as her father sheltered her and her mother from the chaos. There wasn't much left of the world after the dust settled. The world had been almost utterly destroyed. Nothing could survive in the environment that remained; nothing except those blessed with eternal life, although some considered that blessing to be a curse. With her father being one of the immortals left in the world, he had to leave in order help the other immortals in restoring the desolate world. Hunson Abadeer may be the Lord of Evil, but he recognized that the world could not and should not remain the wasteland it was. He had no choice but to leave his daughter with her mother. He hoped that nothing would occur while he was gone.

Much to his disappointment, something did happen.

Marceline had been playing in one of the ruined buildings that use to be her home town. It was a lot quieter now that everyone was gone, but she was used to playing by herself. She'd never interacted with the mortal children but even she would admit she missed having people around. She missed the simple honking of horns, incessant chatter and everyday noises she never thought she'd miss until now. The silence of the new world was deafening to her young ears. That's when her mother called out to her. She eagerly answered her mother's call. It'd been the first time she'd been addressed like she was important by the woman and it filled her with hope that perhaps her mother did care about her despite her very cold behavior. Her mother held out an odd looking teddy bear to her. Its arms and legs were all different lengths and it had patches of different material which made him look more raggedly than he was.

"_I need to go away for a moment but here is a friend to keep you company."_

She'd happily accepted the gift. It's been the first gift her mother ever gave her. She quickly chose the name Hambo for her new friend and thanked her mother profusely. Marceline then ran back to the broken down building per her mother's instructions and played with her new friend, waiting for her mother to return.

She never came back.

Marceline had been left to fend for herself by her mother and father, although the latter did not realize what had happened. The silence around her became even more oppressing as she waited at that broken down building. With nothing keeping her there, Marceline decided to go in search of her mother. She didn't know where her father had gone to but she hoped that as she searched for one of her parents, she'd find the other as well. It was better than staying in the ruins of her town by herself. Thus, the young demon child wandered the planet in search of her mother, telling herself that maybe she'd just gotten lost. Decades passed, but Marceline did not feel the change. She'd noticed she'd grown a bit taller but that meant very little when even your age changed at a different rate than everything around you. In what she eventually dubbed her "preteen" years, she managed to run into her father. She'd told him the story of what happened to her mother and her journey to find her. By the end all he could do was hug her tightly and then said something that she'd never forget.

"_She never wanted to be part of our family Marceline."_

It felt like she'd been punched in gut. Everything made sense to her in that moment. Her mother hadn't gotten lost, she'd abandoned her. A part of Marceline had always suspected this but her more optimistic part kept telling her that couldn't have been the case. Yet, why else had her mother never treated her like her child? Why else would she abandon her? It'd been a bitter pill to swallow. Hunson watched over his broken child, doing the best he could to mend the hole her mother had left in her heart. He knew it wouldn't be the same, but he knew Marceline would heal with time. Something they both had plenty of. The two continued to travel as Hunson watched the seeds of his work be planted and nurtured in the dying world.

Eventually, the time came when Marceline was be the one leaving Hunson behind.

All it took was one moment, one instance, for her to flee from her father's side when he'd decided to eat her fries. Maybe she had been overeating, but it'd felt like the end of the world had come again. As she ran away, it never crossed her mind why he'd even allowed her to go. He was The Lord of Evil. The power he wielded was unimaginable. Keeping a child in line would be like nothing to him and yet he'd just watched her go. This only further cemented the thought that perhaps he really didn't care about her. That maybe he was exactly like her mother. She knew all these thoughts were illogical. Her father had been caring for her, by himself, since she was born. Yet those thoughts were always overshadowed by the more negative ones, even if they were very illogical.

She found herself traveling the planet, watching as it slowly came to life again. The once charred and dead forest began showing signs of life with the growth of new foliage. Water began running through once dried streams and the air no longer had a toxic hint to it. The planet was slowly coming around again and with it life forms began to arise. For the most part, Marceline watched from the shadows as the life forms slowly grew and learned about the new world they lived in. Before she knew it, they were building houses and little towns from which to raise families. Watching those families was painful sometimes. She'd think of her own and how broken they'd become. It was especially painful when she'd watch families come apart. For this reason, she'd never stay in one place for too long or interact with the locals for she'd learned another thing as she watched the mortals: they all died while she would live on.

Marceline moved on from place to place on her endless journey to nowhere.

Although she'd silently made it her policy never to involve herself with the mortals, one day she broke her promise and talked to one of the little candy people that had sprung up in a more lush part of the world. It wasn't a very long conversation but he spoke of how his people were hoping to build a kingdom one day ruled by a benevolent princess. Marceline had only listened and never really gave an input but that didn't seem to bother the little mint man. After this brief encounter, Marceline decided that maybe, it wasn't so bad to interact with them every now and then. As long as she didn't get too attached to them it would be fine. After all, they'd all die one day and leave her behind. There was no point in getting to know them better.

That changed when she met a wizard named Ash.

He'd impressed her with a few of his spells and before she knew it, she got attached to him. This led to her dating the wizard. For the first time ever, Marceline felt the need to have a home so she and Ash could have a place to live. After much scouting, she found the perfect place to build her new home which she named Tree Fort house. Things had been alright at first. The relationship wasn't perfect especially considering that Ash seemed to have no respect for her and yet she couldn't break up with him. Maybe it was because she'd been alone for so long that she'd yearned for the company of someone else in her life, even if that someone was a jerk who constantly ordered her to do things for him. Ash though made one fatal mistake. Thinking that the raggedy doll Marceline owned was disposable, he sold it. Despite the horrible memory attached to that doll, Marceline cared very much for it. Hambo had been her companion through all her tough times and it was the last and only thing her mother had given her. Whatever may have happened to her, Hunson had assured Marceline that her mother had indeed loved her, but that something broke inside the woman causing her to abandon them. For that reason alone, she still kept Hambo by her side as her precious memory of her mother.

And Ash had gone and sold it for a new cherry blossom wand. Then he had the nerve to insult her by conjuring a ghost that sung "you're not a genius".

She wasn't going to take this insult lying down. She promptly dumped his ass and kicked him out of her home. With Ash gone, she found herself even lonelier than before. Not only did she not have her boyfriend around, she'd lost her precious friend Hambo. She felt there was no further need to stay in such a big place by herself. She gathered what little belongings she needed and began journeying around the world once again.

On a relatively quiet evening, Marceline found herself in a field writing in a notebook. At first she'd been using it to write down her thoughts in an attempt to help ease her loneliness, but it soon changed into a notebook of songs she hoped to one day write. Her quiet evening was shattered when a scream ripped through the night. Startled, she quickly packed away her notebook and flew towards the noise. It wasn't long before more screams joined the first one. She stopped on top of a hill watching as a small town burned to the ground. She was snapped out of her stunned stupor by a scream. This one sounded a lot closer to her than before. Wasting no time, she ran towards the scream. Much to her surprise, it was the little candy mint man she'd once talked to. He was pinned down by a creature she knew all too well: a vampire. Marceline was faced with a split seconds decision. She either helped out this candy person or walked away like she saw nothing.

She didn't hesitate to fling the vampire off of the little mint man.

They may have had only the briefest of conversations and she may not have thought she'd ever see him again, but the fact that this creature had a dream he'd been working so hard to achieve only to be destroyed by such senseless actions, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she just stood there and did nothing. Not when she had the power to actually help.

"Run!"

She yelled for the little mint man to seek shelter in the forest. Shaken, and still terrified, the mint man made a run for the forest along with a few more candy people who had escaped their burning homes. Marceline quickly transformed into her tentacle monster form and swatted away as many vampires as she could away from the fleeing candy people. This though, turned the vampire's attention away from the candy people and to the demon girl. Marceline fought them off as best she could but she was overwhelmed. She didn't know how it happened, but one moment she was fighting off vampires and the next, she felt a sharp pain on her neck.

"The sun!"

Marceline recalled someone yell, but she could do nothing as pain wracked her body. The other vampires took off but she could not. She passed out as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

It was many hours later that she would wake up. The first thing she noticed was how dark it was, all except for a small bonfire she laid beside.

"Ah! You're awake!"

Unsure of who was speaking to her, she tried to adjust her eyes to the dim light in the room. With her eye sight focused, she was able to see that the speaker was the mint man she'd saved.

"You…."

"Thank you so much for saving us! We cannot begin to show you just how grateful we are."

"It was nothing." Marceline winced at how cold that sounded. "I mean, I couldn't leave you hanging like that."

It was odd to be thanked. She couldn't think of a time when someone was genuinely grateful to her for anything. She hoped that her respond was appropriate for this situation.

"Where am I?"

The mint man looked down sadly.

"In a cave." He answered vaguely.

"Alright…. What happened after I passed out?"

Something was off. Not just with the way the mint man was suddenly quiet and looking almost remorseful at her, but her body felt different as well. It was the first time she'd ever felt something off with her body. She did not got sick thanks to being a demon and injuries always healed fast as well. So why was she feeling so sluggish all of a sudden?

"After the vampires left, we had to get you to this cave as fast as we could otherwise you'd be killed by the sun."

"But I'm not…."

"You are. One of the vampires bit you before the sun began to rise."

Marceline's hand flew to her neck. She recalled the pain she'd felt just before she passed out. It was impossible. She couldn't have gotten bit.

"I need a mirror." She asked almost panicked.

"I'll see if I can find one." He was about to leave but stopped and turned back. "Please don't leave the cave. It's still light out."

Marceline nodded at the warning as she stared at her hands. She couldn't be a vampire. That was impossible. Her demon blood shouldn't have allowed the corruption to happen. At least she thought that the corruption was impossible. Vampirism was like a disease. It infected a healthy body and transformed it into something else entirely different, something non-living. Since her blood had always fought off any sort of infection from diseases she thought it would do the same for this. Apparently she was wrong. If she was indeed a vampire now, did that mean her demon powers were gone? Had they merged? What was she now?

"Here you go."

The mint candy man returned with the mirror Marceline had requested. She took it shakily and looked into it only to be met with nothing. She had no reflection.

"I need a moment alone."

The mint man nodded wordlessly and left Marceline with her thoughts.

Hours later, when she thought the sun would finally be down, she ventured to the mouth of the cave. Much to her relief, the sun had indeed set. After having a little panic attack, she settled down and began to think about what to do next. She concluded she needed to talk to her father about her change. After she'd done a little test she was relieved to find that all her demon powers were still intact. She wasn't sure what vampire powers she had or if the sun could hurt her for sure since her demon abilities were intact. Still, she didn't want to run the risk of accidently killing herself by testing that theory out so she knew she'd have to travel carefully to avoid being caught out in the middle of nowhere with no shelter from the sun.

"Miss?" Marceline watched the mint man and various other candy people approach her. "We'd all like to thank you for what you did for us. If it weren't for you, we'd never be able to rebuild again."

"Why did they attack you?"

She'd been wondering that for a while. She knew that the vampires were around and liked to cause mischief but they never did anything like this before. Something must have happened.

"They said their king ordered them to lay waste to the land."

Marceline frowned. Their king? They must have gotten a new one because she knew for sure the last king did not allow them to run amok because the planet was still recovering. Marceline cursed the fact that almost all the immortals had disappeared. This wouldn't have been happening if the immortals were still around. Most, it seemed, had chosen to isolated themselves from the rest of the world for reasons she did not know of. Her father was the only one that chose to remain amongst the mortals. She really needed to find her father and have a talk with him. She hadn't spoken to him since the fries incident, but this situation warranted his attention. She was willing to set aside her grudge against him to fix this problem.

Not wanting to waste any more time, she set off to look for her father. Along the way, she met with more vampires that were causing mayhem and she'd put a stop to them. She hated seeing the world being destroyed again after it was finally getting better, but unlike before when she had no power to stop the destruction, she did now. As she used more of her powers, she got a sense of what she could and couldn't do. The vampire powers seemed to compliment her demons powers by providing them with a boost. She added turning into a bat to her repertoire of shape shifting along with drinking shades of red for which she suddenly got a craving for. The only down side was that the light really did hurt her. A lot. Although she did find out that as long as she did not have direct contact with the sun, she was able to go out during the day. She only felt minor pain which was a nuisance she could deal with easily enough.

When she finally did find her father, she hadn't expected to be a witness to his sealing in the Nightosphere. She watched as the Vampire King laughed at her father disappearing from their world. The portal that sucked him in disappeared with a pop, leaving behind nothing except a red ax he used as his weapon.

"The Lord of Evil is no more! I rule everything!" the Vampire King cackled.

Something snapped within her. She'd already lost one parent and now she'd lost another. Marceline remembered very little of that battle with the Vampire King. What she did remember was picking up the red ax before charging at the mad king.

Marceline became the Vampire Queen after that battle.

It's been a long time since she'd been to this part of the world. She recalled it was where those candy people had been trying to build their home. It was shocking to see that not only had they rebuilt their town, but an entire kingdom! Then again, that had been nearly 600 years ago even if it only felt like yesterday to her. Part of her felt a bit bad for never visiting that mint man again. He'd saved her life after all, but things just got hectic for her after that. Being Vampire Queen was a lot more work than she'd thought it'd be especially since she needed to spread the word to all vampires that she was not going to tolerate their shenanigans. Once order was restored again though, she was able to travel freely as opposed to sitting in an undisclosed cave handling vampire matters. She'd be called upon every now and then but those were far and in between.

Here she was though, back in the candy people's land. Maybe she'd meet the descendant of the mint man. She never did get his name so that might be harder than she though. The town was sleeping as she floated through the streets. She hoped they'd beef up their security around the place since she was able to get over the wall so easily, but she was the Vampire Queen so nothing was impossible for her. She looked upon the castle that sat in the middle of the town and, for some reason, she felt like she needed to check out the tallest tower. She floated up towards an open widow and peeked into the room. It was dark except for a small candle light over by a crib.

"Gah!"

Marceline looked curiously at the crib. Had she been hearing things?"

"Gah!"

The Vampire Queen looked around before entering the room. She floated towards the crib and looked down at a pink bundle that reached out to her.

"Gah!"

She looked confused at the child. What did she want? The baby stretched her hands out towards Marceline and spoke again.

"You want me to pick you up?"

"Gah!"

She wasn't sure that was a good idea but decided to give into the child's odd request. The candy baby got comfy before promptly falling asleep in the Vampire Queen's arms. It was the oddest thing Marceline had seen and she'd been around the world long enough to encounter odd things. Not wanting to wake up the child, she resigned herself to her fate and laid the child on her chest as she lay in the air and hummed a random tune. She only left when the sun was about to come up. It wouldn't be good to get caught hold a kid that wasn't hers in a place she'd broken into. She tucked the baby in but before she left she looked down at the child again.

"See ya around kid."

She missed the smile the baby gave at hearing her voice.

Marceline knew she needed to stop visiting Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum, but no matter how many times she'd tell herself it was the last time she never went thought with her plan. She came to visit almost every day at first, but as the princess got older and began her training to become the next ruler of the Candy Kingdom, she limited her visits to once a week. She didn't want to distract Bonnibel from her royal duties and in turn raise suspicion about what or who was causing the distraction. The last thing she needed was for others to find out she was paying visits to the Princess. She doubted it would look good that she was breaking in every time for these visits. Not to mention her reputation would be ruined and as petty as that seemed, she needed to keep her reputation of being a fearsome vampire in order to keep all the others in line.

Bonnibel wasn't happy at first that her visits would be less frequent but Marceline promised the 8-year old candy girl that she'd never stop visiting. Sometimes she wondered if it was a mistake to make that promise. She knew that a mortal like Bonnibel wouldn't be around forever. It's why she did her best not to become close to them in the first place, but she just couldn't say no to the little girl and she doubted she'd ever be able to stay away from the Princess.

"Marcy!"

"Oof!"

Marceline grunted as she felt a smaller body collide with her own. Chuckling at the excited bundle in her arms she lifted the Princess into the air.

"Hey there kid. Long time no see."

"I don't like that you don't come over every day anymore." Bonnibel frowned. "I miss you."

Marceline couldn't keep the smile off her face. It was weird that someone actually missed her.

"I know you don't, but you can't concentrate properly if I'm distracting you all the time."

"But the lessons are so boring!"

"Maybe but it's important for you to learn all that boring stuff. You want to rule your kingdom one day don't you?"

Bonnibel nodded.

"See? Then you gotta pay attention to what your teachers say."

Marceline settled them down on the Princesses bed. They really couldn't spend too much time together since Bonnibel had to be in bed by a certain time, but despite their short time together, it was something they both looked forward to. Marceline tucked in the Princess and lay beside her. Marceline couldn't help but marvel at how odd their friendship was. She still wasn't sure what had continually pulled her to the pink princess but she'd found herself in the Candy Kingdom all the time. She'd been watching the girl grow since the day of her first visit and as the girl grew, it was inevitable that she'd grow attached to Marceline as well. She knew it was too late to back away from this the minute Bonnibel uttered her name for the first time. This girl had her wrapped around her little finger and she was sure the princess wasn't even aware of it.

"Did you have to learn all this too?"

Marceline had told the younger Princess about her own royal status in hopes of motivating her to take her studies seriously, or at least not completely slack off in her studies. Obviously she didn't reveal how exactly she'd come into her title. She doubted it would be a good thing for the young girl to hear how she murdered the previous vampire monarch.

"Yeah, they had me read all these books and junk. It wasn't fun but I had to learn how to be a Queen."

"Then I'm going to study and become a great Queen like you someday!"

Marceline chuckled.

"It's true!" Bonnibel huffed thinking that Marceline did not take her statement seriously.

"I'm not laughing at you kid. I personally think you're going to be an amazing Queen."

"Really?" Bonnibel asked excitedly.

"Really, now it's time for bed. A good Princess needs to have her beauty sleep."

Bonnibel snuggled closer to Marceline; her tiny hands holding onto Marceline's shirt.

"Will you stay the night?"

Marceline smiled.

"I always do kid."

Satisfied with the vampire's answer, Bonnibel's eye slowly drooped until they closed and her breathing evened out. Marceline kept her word and stayed until the sun almost came up. She carefully untangled the younger princess's hand from her shirt and floated over to the window. She looked back at the slumbering princess and wondered if what she was doing was right. Her time with the girl was limited. One day she'd have to say good-bye to the younger girl. When that time came, would she be able to? For the first time in her life, Marceline cursed her immortality.

"Marcy!"

"Hmm?"

"How old are you?"

"Why the sudden interest?"

Marceline watched the teenager blush as she looked away. She'd noticed that Bonnibel had been doing that a lot lately, but she attributed it to the fact that the 15 year old was going through puberty or something with the way she was so shy around her lately. She wasn't up to speed on how it went for candy people but if she had to guess it couldn't have been that much different from what she went through. Granted it took her a couple hundred years for her to reach puberty, but it still happened and it was no fun what so ever. She had no one around to ask about the changes that she was going through and pretty much winged the entire experience. She was glad she'd never have to go through that again.

"I'm just curious."

"Hmm? Something tells me you're hiding a secret from me." Marceline grinned. She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy teasing the teenager. Now that Bonnibel was older, she was more relaxed around the girl because she didn't feel like she was corrupting an innocent child with everything she did. At least now Bonnibel was old enough to think for herself and she no longer had to watch herself around the Princess.

"It's merely for scientific reasons."

"Oooh, Bonnie knows some big words."

Marceline laughed as the Princesses blush grew and she began to playfully hit the vampire who floated around her room. Marceline only half heartily tried to defend herself by placing her ax bass between her and the Princess.

"Alirght, alright. I'll tell ya already." Marceline sighed and went back to strumming her instrument. "My Princess is such a brute."

"I am no brute."

"Whatever you say Bonnie. Now to answer your question, I'm over 1000 years old."

"Fascinating."

Marceline watched in amusement as Bonnibel began to scribble down notes. As the Princess grew, she gained an interest in science. Marceline couldn't see what was to interesting about science and preferred instead to make music, but to each his own. Since the Princess loved science, Marceline had bought for the younger girl her own chemistry set when she'd turned 10. Now she had an entire lab with things that sometimes frightened Marceline, but that didn't mean Bonnibel got rid of the chemistry set Marceline had given her. She kept that gift in her room and still used it for late night experiments that she couldn't bother to do in her lab.

"Sooo, are you gonna tell me why you need to know?"

"Well I recently discovered a book that dates back to before the Mushroom Wars…."

The Vampire Queen stopped listening when she heard those words. For a brief moment, Marceline was transported back to that time when the world ended. The smells, the sounds, the sheer madness of it all invaded her senses.

"Marceline!"

Then she was suddenly pulled back into Bonnibel's room. The Princess was holding her face; worried eyes looking into her own.

"Marceline?" Bonnibel asked again. She didn't know what had happened, but almost as soon as she'd mentioned the Mushroom Wars, Marceline had stopped strumming her bass. It's been unnerving to see the vampire girl go so still.

"Ah, I guess I zoned out there." Marceline laughed uncomfortably. She wasn't sure what happened. Why had she suddenly been transported back to that time by just a mere mention of the war? It wasn't like it was the first time she'd thought about that awful time so why did it affect her now?

Bonnibel wasn't convinced that Marceline was okay but she didn't push the issue. Marceline very rarely talked about her past or herself for that matter. Sometimes it greatly irritated the Princess that she'd only get vague answers or no answer at all because the vampire girl would divert her attention to something else. The fact that she'd actually answered her honestly about her age was the first time she'd been honest with her about anything. Bonnibel was sure that Marceline probably didn't even notice that she'd opened up, even if it was a very tiny bit. Maybe it meant she was getting more comfortable around her?

"Let's go to bed Marcy."

"Uh, sure?"

Marceline allowed herself to be dragged to the Princesses bed. Even if she was older, Bonnibel still enjoyed these sleep overs they had. The two girls made themselves comfortable.

"Sing me to sleep?"

"Pfft. Aren't you a little too old for lullabies?"

"Marcy…" Bonnibel growled. Maybe she was too old for them but Bonnibel would die of embarrassment if she were to ever reveal that she just like to hear the vampire girls voice. Still, she felt herself smile at Marceline's teasing. She was just glad Marceline was okay enough to tease her.

"Haha, as my Princess commands."

Bonnibel closed her eyes and allowed Marceline's voice to lull her into dreamland.

"I'm what?" Marceline growled.

"I said that you're a distasteful, barbarian that has no regards to the rules!"

"What the flip! I come to visit you and this is how you treat me?"

"You scared away all my guests!"

They were having their first fight over something stupid. Marceline had been told that she could not visit Bonnibel on this particular night because she was having very important guests staying over. Marceline _had_ thought about actually listening to what Bonnibel had told her but at the end she couldn't resist taking a peek at what was so important that her weekly visit had to be put off. It was kind of annoying actually because, lately, it'd been happening more often. Bonnibel would always be busy with one thing or another and Marceline would be told that she'd have to come back the following week via a note on the window. She hated to admit that she actually missed being around the Princess but she did. She missed their banter, their sleep overs, she missed _her_. She missed her Princess, but ever since Bonnibel turned 18 and took over as ruler of Candy Kingdom, things had changed and not for the better in Marceline's opinion. In just the span of two month, their time together had decreased dramatically. This was the first time she'd seen Bonnibel in those two months.

"It was just a flipping sleepover!"

"It wasn't just any sleep over! This was a sleep over with the other Princesses! This was important to the relationship between our kingdoms!"

After Marceline had seen what it was that kept her away, she couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed that she was pushed aside for these Princesses. That's when an idea popped into her head. It was just an innocent prank that consisted of her sneaking into the room then scaring the living heck out of everyone with her tentacle monster form. Her prank had gone off without a hitch, except for the part where she and Bonnibel began to fight. That had not been a welcomed occurrence.

"I said I was sorry!"

"But you don't mean it!"

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't! I'm tired of hearing your apologies when you don't ever mean them! You're apologies are meaningless to me! Now everything is ruined! I… I wish I'd never met you!"

The minute those words left her lips, Bonnibel immediately regretted them. Her hands flew to her mouth as she stared wide eyed at the equally wide eyed vampire.

Marceline felt like she'd been slapped in the face. Her throat constricted almost painfully, keeping her from saying anything back. All the adrenaline that had been fueling her anger just disappeared and all she was left with was a hollow feeling.

"_I was so stupid…"_

How could she have thought that she could ever be friends with someone like Bonnibel? She should've stopped visiting the girl after the first time. She should've have stopped this nonsense a long time ago. There was no way anything was ever going to come of this friendship no matter how good it had been. She knew she'd just end up hurt from all this and yet she'd persisted and now look where that got her.

"Marcy…."

The minute her name left the Princesses lips, she turned and fled through the window.

"Marceline!" Bonnibel yelled after the vampire girl, but no matter how much she screamed, Marceline didn't return. She didn't come back the next day or the day after that.

Marceline disappeared from Princess Bubblegum's life.

She was so mad! Princess Bubblegum had no other feelings to associate her encounter with the Vampire Queen. At first she'd been happy that Marceline had finally returned after being gone for months. She'd started to think she really would never see her again.

There had been many things she'd wanted to talk about that had happened in Marceline's absence. Like the arrival of a boy named Finn. He'd come to her kingdom in order to be its hero. She hadn't been too sure at first but he'd proven himself to be a mighty champion and so she'd call upon him every now and then to perform duties of utter importance to her kingdom. But the Vampire Queen just had to go and ruin it! She acted as if nothing ever happened between! As if they'd never been friends to begin with! She dared tease her and call her names! It was infuriating!

And it was also very sad.

The fact that Marceline felt the need to further push her away with her hurtful words was more hurtful than the words themselves. She didn't want things to continue as they were. She wanted to apologize and maybe repair their broken friendship, but how could she when Marceline wouldn't let her in? Would Marceline _ever_ let her back in?

It had been a few days since the Door Lord incident. Everything was finally out in the open between the two girls. Bonnibel knew Marceline had been incredibly hurt by her careless words, but that she missed her. Marceline actually missed her. Why else would she sing her that song if she didn't care at least a tiny bit about her? In turn, Bonnibel had let Marceline know that she still cared about her as well by keeping that old band t-shirt Marceline had brought back for her when the Vampire Queen had gone to help out the band. Bonnibel smiled as she recalled the stunned face of the vampire girl. Now if only they could sit down and actually talk about their problems.

There was a strum of guitar strings more specifically, of a bass guitar.

At first, Bonnibel thought she'd imagined it until she heard it again. She stood by the door that led to her balcony and listened to the steady stream of music as she sat on the floor and leaned against the door.

"Aren't you too old for me to be singing you to sleep?"

The Princess smiled. It'd only been a few days, but she felt like it'd been ages since she'd heard Marceline's voice.

"Have I ever told you that I like hearing your voice?"

Marceline messed up in her strumming. Bubblegum had once told herself that she could never admit that out loud to anyone, not even Marceline, but if she ever hoped to get Marceline to open up to her again, she'd have to take the first step. Then, maybe, the vampire girl would come out of her shell as well.

"No…. you've never told me that."

Bonnibel smiled.

"Well I do."

"Why?"

Bonnibel brought her knees up to her chest and laid her chin on her knees.

"I'm not sure myself, but for whatever reason, I always found your voice to be very soothing."

On the other side of the door, Marceline sat leaning against the door like Bonnibel. Her bass lay in her lap forgotten after Bonnibel's revelation. It hadn't been her plan to come to the Candy Kingdom, but after the whole mess with the Door Lord she found herself wandering around again. Her feet carried, more like floated, her back to the place she'd run away from. In those few months she'd had absolutely no contact with the bubblegum princess were the longest she'd ever experienced. That had never happened. When time passed for her, it was never something she felt. It just happened. She blinked and then the world around her changed. It hadn't bothered her before, in fact she'd sort of grown use to how that worked.

Then the thought of that happening without talking to Bonnibel ever again crossed her mind and it frightened her. She didn't want that to happen. That's why she returned. She hadn't wanted to one day wake up and find that someone that'd become so important to her, for reasons she still didn't understand, was gone. What she hadn't counted on was how defensive she got around the other girl. The pink princess's words had hurt her more than she'd thought. Now she was afraid to let her back in again, so much that she was trying to keep her away with her own careless words and actions.

"I missed you Marcy." Bonnibel interrupted Marceline's thoughts. "Every day I'd wonder if you were okay, if you were ever coming back… if you missed me too."

Marceline bit her lip. The tears that had begun burning at the beginning of the conversation now fell from her eyes. She didn't hear the door open behind her. She only knew that suddenly, there was a warm body hugging her from behind.

"I'm so sorry Marceline. I never meant any of it. You're a very important friend to me and if you were never in my life… these last few months gave me a taste of what that would be like and I hated it so… please…. Talk to me?"

Marceline turned into Bonnibel's embrace and cried into the princess's arms. Bonnibel felt her own tears finally fall. She'd been holding it in for as long as she could. She knew that once the dam broke she wouldn't be able to say what she'd wanted, but after saying her peace she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I missed you too! I hated being away from you! I hated the way we stopped talking to each other like that." Marceline cried.

"Shhh." Bonnibel stroked the vampire girl's hair. "It's okay Marceline. All that matters is that you're here now and we can fix things… if you want to that is."

Marceline pulled back so she could wipe her eyes.

"Haha, look at me. I'm the one who should be the adult here."

"You can be the more mature one next time."

"So we're going to fight again?"

"If we do, we can talk it out like adults. So, do you want to be friends again?"

"Of course I do." Marceline grinned slightly. "I can't let a nerd like you go without having an awesome friend like me."

Bonnibel grinned back and Marceline knew things were going to be okay.

When it first happened, Marceline hadn't been sure _what_ it was that happened.

She and Bonnibel had been having a picnic on a rare day when Marceline actually went out during the day. Even if she only felt a little bit of pain while under shade, the pain was still there. She could only do this so much before even that minor pain would become too much for her to handle which is why she went out sparingly. Whenever Bonnibel would ask her out for day excursions though, she'd never say no. With their friendship finally repaired again, she'd wanted to spend as much time as possible with the princess, even if it meant she'd be spending more time out during the day. She felt it was worth it. Everything seemed to be going well, but then _it_ happened.

Bubblegum kissed Marceline.

It'd happened so fast that Marceline thought she'd somehow imagined it. Since the vampire girl didn't have much of a reaction though, Bonnibel did it again just to make sure she made it clear that, yes it did happen. It was hard to explain the meeting of their lips as nothing more than a friendly kiss, especially when it kept happening.

That's how their innocent kissing started.

Whenever she'd arrive or leave, the Vampire Queen was always given a kiss by the Princess. Nothing more than a quick press of their lips would ever happen. It felt odd yet strangely right. It confused the Vampire Queen greatly, but she didn't do anything to discourage the Princess from continuing her random kissing. It got to the point that if Marceline didn't get her daily kisses she'd seek out the princess for her kiss whether it be night or day otherwise she was unable to go on with her day.

"Can I ask you something Bonnie?"

"Mmm?"

Marceline was resting her head in the Princesses lap while they sat outside on a cloudy day. Bubblegum was busy reading a book while one hand lazily ran her fingers though Marceline's long mane. Marceline liked days like this because the pain from the sun was almost nonexistent. The moment she noticed the clouds, she "kidnapped" the Princess from her castle and took her out for a day of relaxation. She'd always tell Bubblegum that she needed to be able to relax every once in a while and doing experiments didn't count as relaxing.

"Are we dating?" Marceline had been wondering this for a while now but hadn't really known how to bring up the topic. All their kissing suggested as much, but at the same time, she wondered if maybe the Princess was just experimenting with her. It wouldn't be completely farfetched to think that she was but all her wondering was getting her nowhere, so she'd decided to just be her usual blunt self.

Bonnibel's lips quirked up in an amused smile but she did not halt her reading or caressing of the vampire girl's hair.

"What do you think?"

"Yes?"

"You don't sound very sure."

"Well that's why I asked to begin with." Marceline said a bit annoyed. Since when did the princess tease _her_? It was supposed to be the other way around!

"Do you need a hint?"

"I think that would help."

Marceline suddenly found her head no longer in Bubblegum's lap and instead found the Princess on top of her, her lips eagerly moving against the vampire girls. Marceline wasted no time in responding to the girl's actions. Bubblegum pulled away after a few _very _pleasurable minutes.

"Does that answer your question?"

Bonnibel squeaked in surprise when Marceline flipped her on her back. The Vampire Queen looked down at _her_ princess with a predatory smirk, one that Bonnibel could only describe as sexy.

"I think I need a few more hints."

As Marceline descended upon her captive, Bonnibel could only think of how she was more than happy to supply her vampire with as many hints as she wanted, for as long as she needed.

"We should get married."

Bubblegum dropped the vials she'd been working with causing an explosion. The laboratory and the rest of the wing had to be evacuated in order for the clean-up team to properly be able to dispose of all the pink goop that was created in the explosion. The two girls were decontaminated before being allowed to return to Bonnibel's room. Once there they gathered their clothes so they could take a bath. Their bath ended up taking longer than expected thanks to their less than wholesome bath time activities.

"You shouldn't joke about something like that." Bonnibel admonished halfheartedly as she brushed her girlfriends hair. The two were sitting on her bed getting ready to go to sleep, at least she was. Bonnibel had no doubt that Marceline would be doing everything but sleeping. The Vampire Queen sometimes had to go out and take care of "vampire matters", whatever that meant. She never pushed for a more solid answer because she knew that her girlfriend would eventually reveal what these matters consisted of. It must've not been good though if she was still hiding what it could possibly be. She shook the thoughts out of her head. Now was not the time to be wondering about things like that. Not when something even more pressing had occurred.

The truth was her heart was still pounding from Marceline's sudden suggestion or was it more of a demand? The Vampire Queen didn't make it sound like she was giving her girlfriend much of a choice. True they'd been dating for almost a year now and the Marceline had all but moved into the Candy Kingdom, but she thought they were still far from taking that step. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't happy with the idea. In fact, she didn't know how she'd describe how she'd feel if she and Marceline got married. Maybe like a dream come true?

"Who said I was joking?"

Bubblegum stopped her brushing.

"What?"

Marceline turned herself to properly look at her girlfriend. She'd been thinking about this for a while now. The minute they began dating, her thoughts jumped straight to marriage. At first she'd been slightly freaked out that her mind led her there so soon, but if there was one thing she'd learned from her long life it was that time was short, not for her, but for mortals. She may have all the time in the world to fool around, but they didn't. No matter how Marceline looked at it, her days with Bonnibel were numbered and she wanted to make the most of the time she had with her Princess. She wanted Bonnibel to experience everything that life had to offer. She wanted to marry the only person she could honestly say she loved.

"Marry me."

"W-what?"

"A long time ago, I came across a little mint candy man who told me he and his people had a dream: they wanted to build a kingdom ruled by a benevolent princess."

Bonnibel was confused as to where this story was heading, but she allowed Marceline to continue with her story.

"I never expected to see the candy man again but I guess fate or something had something else in mind. I did run into him again when his town was under attack by a group of vampires. I helped him but as a result I ended up being turned into a vampire."

The Princesses couldn't believe her ears. Marceline was telling her about her past. The vampire girl had been slowly getting better about talking about herself. Marceline had even revealed to Bonnibel that she had a mother and a father and that they were both still alive, but nothing like this. Bonnibel had had no clue that Marceline wasn't always a vampire.

"I'm still not completely sure what I am, but I've settled with just being a vampire since I am their queen. Anyway, after that, I never saw the mint man again. It wasn't until many, many years later that I returned to this part of the world and came to find that the mint man's dream had come true. He and his people did build a great kingdom, but they still didn't have their princess, or so I thought."

Marceline took both of Bonnibel's hands in her own before continuing.

"Out of curiosity, I checked out this tower that was just screaming for me to break in. Can you guess what I found?"

Bonnibel shook her head, but she had a feeling she knew where this was heading.

"I found myself a little pink baby asking me to carry her. I don't know why, but instead of walking away from her, I did as she asked. Stranger still, I came back every night and sang that baby to sleep."

Marceline kissed Bonnibel's hand.

"I never imagined that baby was going to grow up to be such a bossy Princess," Marceline smirked when she felt Bonnibel smack her arm. "But somewhere along the way, I ended up loving everything about her."

"Marceline…"

"Bonnie, I'm no good with feelings and stuff, but I want you to know that you're the only one I will ever love, so if you'll have me, will you marry me?"

Marceline found herself flung back onto the bed by her princess. She panicked at first when she heard her girlfriend crying. Her mind raced trying to figure out what she'd done, other than propose, to make the princess cry. Was it normal to cry after a proposal? It's not like she had any experience with this sort of things so she hoped that Bonnibel was crying due to joy as opposed to anything else.

"B-Bonnie?"

"Yes."

"Huh?"

Princess Bubblegum did her best to stop her crying, but she was just so happy. Everything that Marceline revealed to her only reaffirmed her feelings for the Vampire Queen.

"I'll marry you, you big idiot."

Marceline was busy writing a new song while she waited for Bonnibel to return to their room for the night. It'd been a few years since they'd been married and it'd been the best years of her life. All the countless others she'd lived through would never compare to her time with her Princess; well Queen would be a more appropriate now that Bubblegum had finally been given the title by her subjects, but to Marceline, Bubblegum would always be her princess and she wouldn't trade her for anyone else in the world. Their marriage wasn't always perfect and they'd had their share of fights that ended with Marceline sleeping on the roof of the tower, but they'd never let their fights create a rift between them like it had the first time.

It hadn't been all sunshine and rainbows either when they'd told their subjects of the coming change. Concerns immediately arose when it came to the politics involved with a union such as theirs. Bonnibel won her people over with logic while Marceline intimidated her subjects into shutting the hell up and letting her do what she wanted. The Princess could only shake her head at the way the vampires handled things, but she supposed since they _were_ using a form of monarchy that Marceline had a point about their complaining. She couldn't do that to her subjects though, but at least things still ended up working out for them.

Their friends though, had been rather ecstatic that they were taking that big step. Their friends couldn't miss how happy the pair was after they'd begun dating and had been expecting a marriage to follow soon. After all, no one had ever heard of the Vampire Queen ever confessing her lover for anyone. Not even her ex-boyfriend Ash had been graced with those words. Really, it was only logical they'd end up married.

Suddenly, the door to her and Bonnibel's room was thrown open. Marceline stared at her wife who looked positively glowing.

"I'm pregnant!"

Those were the last words she'd heard before she passed out. Minutes later, she woke up with her head in her wife's lap.

"Bonnie?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Marceline sat up and scratched her head in confusion. "I had the weirdest dream."

"Did I tell you I was pregnant in this dream?"

"Yeah! How did you know that?"

Bonnibel took one of Marceline's hands and laid it on her stomach. Marceline's eyes widened.

"Because I am."

"S-seriously?"

"Yes."

Marceline picked her princess up and spun her around in pure joy. She couldn't believe it! Her wife had figured out how to do it! Bonnibel had been working on a way for them to have children for over a year now. They were young, at least Bubblegum was, but after discussing the idea seriously, they decided that they indeed wanted to start a family. Bonnibel had already deduced it could be possible for two females to have children; it was just a matter of figuring out how to do it and she had. They could have the family they'd wanted.

"Hey there little one." Marceline caressed her wife's growing belly.

The bubblegum princess was 5 months into her pregnancy and Marceline was enjoying every bit of it. She'd watched in rapt fascination as Bonnibel's stomach grew a little bit day by day. Every night, she'd sing her unborn child, and consequently, her wife to sleep. Bonnibel had joked that their child would eventually end up like her and be unable to fall asleep without the Vampire Queen's voice. Marceline didn't think she'd mind if that's what happened. She'd sing her family to sleep whenever they wanted.

"Have you thought of a name yet?"

Marceline was tasked with naming their first child. She'd been hesitant at first and wanted Bonnibel to think of one instead, but her wife wouldn't budge on her decision.

"Hmm, how about Sugerlump?"

"We are not naming our child Sugerlump."

"Why not? It's a great name, right Sugarlump?" Marceline asked her wives stomach as she laid her hand upon it. In response, she felt a kick. Marceline's eyes widened in surprise as did Bubblegum's. "See! It agrees!"

"Don't call our child an it and don't agree with your mom!" Bonnibel admonished both the vampire and her unborn child.

"It's not like we know what the sex is. You won't let Dr. Ice Cream tell us cause it just has to be a surprise."

"Well it seemed like a good idea to do it this way at the time."

"You know it would be helpful to know if it's going to be a boy or a girl. Maybe I won't come up with a completely embarrassing name if I knew."

"Hmm, I suppose it would be more useful to you if you knew."

They soon found themselves in the office of Dr. Ice Cream. She was assigned to be their main doctor through the pregnancy. So far, even with the unusual way Bonnibel became pregnant, nothing odd had happened. Marceline watched anxiously as Dr. Ice cream brought out the machine that would examine her wives stomach. Soon, they would know what their child was going to be.

"Let's see…hmm….what's this?"

"Is something wrong?" Marceline asked unsure.

Just because there hadn't been any problems yet didn't mean that there still wasn't the possibility of something happening.

"Is everything alright Dr. Ice Cream?" Bonnibel asked this time.

"Everything is well, but it seems we've missed something very important."

"What?" the two girls asked.

"You're having twins."

"Eh?" Marceline thought she'd heard wrong. "Twins…"

That was all Marceline could say before she fainted.

"Marshall Lee! Get back here!"

Marceline floated after her five year old son who ran around the courtyard of the Candy Palace. It was during the day, but Marceline was able to be out thanks to her favorite weather phenomenon: clouds. The overcast made this a perfect day for her to spend it out doors with her family. They were enjoying a nice afternoon together after what had been a long month for Marceline and Bonnibel negotiating a treaty with the newly established kingdom of the Hyooman Tribe. Finn had been an essential person in their negotiations and it was thanks to him that the Hyoomans were so willing to sit down and talk with them. With all the meetings they had to attend, they'd had little time to spend it with their children. They hated leaving them with Peppermint Butler mainly because they were afraid they'd mentally scar the poor candy man. Their kids were well behaved to a point, but they were still kids. They enjoyed causing trouble, something that Bonnibel was convinced they inherited from Marceline. Luckily, they were able to find others to help out Peppermint Butler and reduce the mental scaring of everyone involved.

After everything was finally done, they gave Peppermint Butler and his helpers a much needed vacation. They considered themselves lucky that he didn't turn in a resignation and was just happy to be able to go away for a month.

"Haha! You can't catch me mom!"

Prince Marshall Lee was the younger and more of a handful of the twins. The boy was a spitting image of the Vampire Queen down to the black hair, pointy ears, and gray-blue skin. Thanks to the demon blood in her DNA, Marshall had inherited all the qualities of a demon. He'd also inherited Marceline's mischievous streak. He loved to pull pranks on the staff and it didn't help when Marceline praised her son's sneakiness in those situations. Bonnibel would end up lecturing both of them for their behaviors.

"Those two are hopeless." Bonnibel sighed before taking a sip of her tea.

"Mom and Marshall are always chasing each other around." He was sitting next to his mother playing with a chemistry set she got for his birthday.

Prince Gumball was the older twin and calmer of the two boys. He'd inherited more of Bonnibel's characteristics and looks. He was a bubblegum boy who enjoyed doing science experiments like his mother. That didn't mean he was above causing mischief though. He'd even help Marshall orchestrate more elaborate pranks. Like the time they'd glued their mother's hands together…along with those of everyone else in the kingdom. They still hadn't figured out how they managed to pull that one off and after a while, they'd decided it was best to just leave it a mystery.

"Gotcha ya little twerp!"

"Marceline! How many times have I told you not to call our son a twerp?"

Marceline floated over with Marshall sitting comfortably on her shoulders.

"Aww, but babe, that's how he knows I care."

"Yeah! Mom cares!" Marshall squealed happily.

"See?"

"You guys are impossible." Bonnibel tried to sound mad, but the smile on her face told otherwise.

"I think someone needs some love don't you agree twerp?"

"Yup!"

Bonnibel didn't anticipate suddenly being lifted into the air.

"Marce...!"

Her lecture died on her lips since they were suddenly being smothered by Marceline's. The bubblegum queen saw no point in fighting against her wife, not when she was enjoying herself too much.

"Eww, mom and mother are being all kissy again." Marshall made a face of disgust.

Marceline pulled away from a slightly dazed Bonnibel.

"You're ruining the mood twerp."

"Mom!" Gumball jumped up on his seat. "I wanna fly with you guys too!"

"Ah, how could I forget my little man? Come here you."

Marceline floated down enough for Bonnibel to be able to lift Gumball into her lap. They laughed together as Marceline flew her family over the candy Kingdom.

"I wanna be a vampire."

Marceline had been so startled that she broke a string on her bass.

"What?"

"I wanna be a vampire." Marshall repeated without missing a beat.

The Vampire Queen sat up from her spot under the tree and regarded her son seriously. Her boy was no longer a child. He was growing into a handsome young man. The 18 year old stood before her with all the confidence he'd inherited from both his mother's asking for something he knew he might not get.

"Take a seat."

Marshall listened to his mother and sat in front of her on the grass.

"Do you know what you're asking for?"

"I do."

Marshall had been thinking long and hard about this request. He knew it was no laughing matter to be turned into a vampire. He'd had Gumball help him do the research into vampirism. Sure he could ask him mom all about being a vampire, but that would've given away what he was planning. If there was anyone who would try to dissuade him into going through with his plan it was his mom.

"Have you talked to your mother about this?"

"No, I wanted to ask you first before we talked to mother."

"Why?"

"Mom, have you noticed that mother isn't as young as she used to be?"

"Yes…" Marceline answered carefully.

It was hard not to notice that her wife wasn't the young woman she'd once been when she was beginning to have trouble doing things she'd once been able to do so easily. It was hard watching Bonnibel get older while she remained the same. It was getting harder to imagine that Bonnibel was getting closer and closer to leaving her.

"Mom," Marshall began "I know that Gumball and I have both been brought up to one day take over ruling the kingdom, but we both know that Gumball is more suited for the role than I'll ever be."

Marshall spoke the truth. Even though they'd both been raised the same, Gumball had shown an affinity for ruling the Candy Kingdom more than Marshall had. If anything, Marceline would have to say Marshall would make a better Vampire King if he so chose.

"You'd make a good king too you know."

"Yeah, but not of the Candy people."

"Is that why you want me to turn you?"

"It's not the only reason, but it's part of it. I'm getting ready for what's to come. You and I both know for what mom."

Marceline looked long and hard at her son. Truly, he was wiser than she was at that age.

"I'm sorry, that I'll be dumping all this on you."

Marshall smiled. "I don't mind. I'd rather take over than have you be forced to be here."

Marceline stood up. Marshall followed her lead.

"Let's go talk to your mother. I'm sure she's going to be ecstatic to hear this."

"I don't envy you right now mom."

Marceline had been dreading this day since the moment she met Bonnibel. She held her wives frail hand as the bubblegum queen laid in their bed, their two sons by her side, both wearing solemn expressions. The illness had come out of nowhere. The doctors weren't even sure how to combat it, but whatever it was, it was sapping the life from the queen. No amount of sugar could combat the rapid dying of the cells in Bonnibel's body. This wasn't how Marceline thought she'd be saying goodbye to her wife. She thought she'd have more time than what she was given.

"Marcy?"

"Ssh. It's okay Bonnie. You need to rest."

"Do you remember when you proposed to me?"

"Bonnie…."

"You told me a story. Remember?"

Marceline swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Yeah, I remember."

"I was able to figure out why I liked your voice so much thanks to that. You've been there for me since then haven't you?"

"Yup, and I'm still here Bonnie."

She smiled weakly at her vampire.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Marceline felt the tears stinging her eyes.

"That I'm leaving you."

"It's not your fault Bonnie. You…you couldn't have seen this coming."

"I don't want to leave you or our sons. I'm scared Marcy. So scared."

"You're not alone. I'm here. We're here."

"Boys."

"Yes mother?" Gumball moved to the opposite side of the bed and held his mother's other hand. Marshall followed his brother's lead and both boys held their mother's hand as she addressed them one final time.

"Take care of each other and please, take care of your mother for me."

"We'll look after her." Gumball spoke in a shaky voice.

"And each other." Marshall added.

"We promise." They said together.

Bonnibel smiled at her two boys. Truly, she was proud of her sons. They'd grown into fine young men.

"Marcy? Can you sing me a lullaby?"

The tears ran freely down Marceline's cheeks, but she answered her wife's last request.

_The moon is out_

_It's time for bed_

_Let your dreams_

_Take you away_

_I'll be here_

_To watch over you_

_So close your eyes_

_Let your dreams_

_Take you away_

Queen Bonnibel Bubblegum passed away with her wife and sons by her side.

"How do you do it dad?"

Marceline found herself in the Nightosphere once again. She'd been spending a lot more time here than anywhere else lately. With her wife gone, things just hadn't been the same. Her life felt emptier than she'd ever thought. It helped though, that her two boys made the effort to keep her in their lives. They were the one bright spot she had in her eternal life.

"I've been doing this whole immortal thing much longer than you have Marceline."

"I kind of figured that already."

Hunson watched his only child sit quietly in his office. It was odd to see Marceline be so docile, but ever since the death of his daughter in law, Marceline was no longer the wild girl she'd once been. The death had really hit her hard.

"Marceline, do you know why I let you run away so long ago?"

That caught Marceline's attention.

"No."

Hunson stood up from his desk and walked over to the only family portrait that existed of their family. Back before the Mushroom War occurred.

"There was only so much I could teach you about being an immortal by keeping you with me. If you were ever going to learn what it all meant and to find a place in this world for yourself, I'd have to let you go and experience things for yourself. A lot of things happened that I hadn't expected. You being turned into the vampire certainly was one of them, but you didn't give up. You made the best of the situation you were given. Your life span is still like that of an immortal, but you are not truly one anymore. The vampire curse has made certain of this. What I'm trying to say Marceline, is whatever you choose to do after this point, I will not stop you. I just ask that you don't leave without making sure all your business has been taken care of."

"Dad…."

Hunson moved to another picture. This one was of Marceline and Bonnibel right after the Princess had given birth to their two boys. Hunson had taken the picture himself. With their relationship repaired, Marceline had wanted her father to be there to be a part of the next big phase of her life and Hunson couldn't have been prouder or happier for his daughter than in that moment.

"You've experienced something amazing Marceline. You found love. Even with my long life span, I have not experienced what you have."

"But mom…."

"You know what that was."

Marceline knew what he was talking about. After they'd repaired their relationship, they sat down and talked about everything that had happened in the past. That's when Hunson decided the time had come for his daughter to know the truth about why her mother had been the way she was. He revealed that the humans of that time thought Hunson was some sort of demon they could summon and control granted they sacrificed a virgin for him to take as his wife. This was, of course, a different time when Hunson was fully immersed in his role as the Lord of Evil. The union between him and Marceline's mom could only be described as a horrible. It was something Hunson didn't come to fully understand until his daughter was born.

Marceline's mom had tried to love her daughter and she did for a short time, but the things that she'd been put through could not be erased no matter what happened thus she ended up leaving them.

"I am truly a monster Marceline and I regret a lot of things I've done. I may have grown fond of your mother, but it was never love. Your birth was the only thing that opened my eyes and allowed me to experience that feeling for the first time, but I have not found what it means to love another the way you had with your wife."

"Dad..."

"Marceline, I will be around for many more millennia to come, I do not expect the same of you."

Marceline watched as Gumball played with his two girls with his wife by his side. She could still remember the day her oldest had married Finn's daughter Fiona. Marshall had stood by his brother's side as his best man. Marceline was truly happy that her son had found someone he was happy with. She just wished Marshall could find someone like that as well, but knowing how long it took her to find her special someone then Marshall might have a while to go.

"You should join them mom. You know the little brats love you." Marshall sat by his mom's side.

"I know, but I'm here for something else today."

"It's time isn't it?" Marshall asked quietly.

"You're far too smart for your own good."

Marshall had figured it out a long time ago. He'd known that his mom wouldn't be able to live forever without his mother by her side. They truly were soul mates and it was only a matter of time before his mom's soul would want to go to the place his mother's was. That was why he wanted to take over Marceline's role in the world for when she left. It was something only he could do and with his mom's blessing, he'd started to take over that role. For the first time in vampire history, the position of king or queen could be inherited instead of just taken.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes, but I needed to see you and Gumball before I went."

"Mom…I…."

"I know twerp. You don't have to say anything."

Marshall had cried very few times in his life. He could probably count those times on one hand. Today he was going to be adding another to the count. Marceline took Marshall's initial advice and joined Gumball's family. After night fell and the kids had been put to sleep, she knew it was time.

"Gumball…. I'm proud of you and I'm sure your mother would be too."

"Mom?" The Prince immediately sensed something was off. He looked to his brother who could only nod solemnly. That told Gumball everything. "Mom…"

"Hey now, don't look so sad."

Marceline was caught off guard when Gumball embraced her and cried into her shoulder. She felt another pair of arms and she knew Marshall had joined in as well.

"We love you mom." Gumball sobbed.

The two boys pulled away.

"Tell mother we said hi and that we miss her too." Marshall said through his tears.

"And we'll miss you too mom." Gumball finished.

"Boys…. Thank you. I couldn't have asked for better kids than you. I love you both." Marceline handed Gumball a box and then gave Marshall her ax. "I know both of you will take care of these."

Marshall gripped the ax tightly, like it would disappear. Gumball opened the box only to shut it quickly. It was his mother's royal crown. No one had been allowed to touch it much less see it after Bonnibel had died.

"We won't let you down." Gumball and Marshall both said.

"I know you won't."

Marceline left the castle that night and floated out to the hill where her wife was buried. She sat beside the tombstone and waited patiently for the sun to rise.

"Am I selfish for doing this Bonnie?"

She didn't receive an answer nor had she expected one. Even if it was selfish of her for doing this, she'd come to terms with what she was about to do. What was eternal life without the person she loved most? She'd gladly give it up to be with her once again, which is exactly what she was doing.

The sun peeked over the horizon.

Marceline thought she'd never seen something so beautiful and so frightening. The sun hit her. It was the most agonizing thing she'd ever experienced. She thought the pain would never end but then she heard it. The voice she missed so much.

"_Marceline…"_

"_Bonnie?"_

Then the pain disappeared and all she could feel was the warmth of the person she'd wanted to spend eternity with.

Marshall and Gumball watched the sunrise together that day. Marshall was hiding in the shadows while Gumball stood in the balcony.

"Do you think they're together?" Marshall asked his brother.

"I'm sure they are." Gumball answered with conviction.

"Yeah….." Marshall took his mother's bass and strummed a few notes on it for the first time. The two boys prepared themselves for the day to come, knowing that their mothers would be looking over them.

On a hill overlooking the Candy Kingdom sat one tombstone with a simple inscription.

_Marceline the Vampire Queen and Queen Bonnibel Bubblegum_

_They were here for a moment, but in our hearts forever._

**AN:** There you have it guys. I don't have much else to say here at the end. I just hope you all enjoyed it. Reviews are always welcomed so please let me know what you thought. Until next time.


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